Jack and pile adjusting means



Dec. 29, 1936. F H c Efi 2,065,564

JACK AND FILE ADJUSTING MEANS Filed Dec. 5, 1934 Patented Dec. 29, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JACK AND PILE ADJUSTING MEANS Frank H. Cramer, Chicago, 111.

Application December 5, 1934, Serial No. 756,040

9 Claims.

My invention relates to jacks of the character used for lifting, moving and supporting heavy objects and has reference more particularly to a jack of a universal type which vis specially suited to perform a variety of operations, particularly in connection with piling structures, which have heretofore required a number of different kinds of jacks.

In railroad construction and repair work, piling is quite extensively employed, as for example in bridges, trestles and other structures, and as it is practically impossible to drive the piles so that the tops thereof are in the exact position required to support the superstructure, it is customary to employ jacks which are hitched to the piling with steel chains or blocked in place thereon so that the upper ends of the various piles may be pushed or pulled into the required position by the operation of the jacks.

Various kinds of jacks have been devised for these operations, but no jack has been available heretofore which was adapted to satisfactorily perform the various operations and it has accordingly been the practice to furnish construc- 25 tion and repair gangs with a number of different kinds of jacks from which they could select the kind best suited for each particular operation, the ones which have been found preferable and which are generally used being the regular 30 bell bottom jacks which are used principally for pushing and steamboat ratchets which are used for pulling.

However, neither of these preferred types of jacks is really satisfactory or well suited for the work, which is particularly diflicult and hazardous as it is usually performed in elevated positions at the upper ends of the piles, and oftentimes over streams or deep ravines or gullies. The bell bottom jacks are placed between the upper ends of the piles for pushing, wooden blocks being used particularly at the head end to fit the jacks between the piles, but these jacks are hard to hold in place, particularly as the piles are usually arranged on a batter or at an angle to one another and oftentimes heavily creosoted so that the bell end of the jack slips and turns quite readily and as a consequence these jacks are oftentimes more or less displaced or even kicked out from between the piling when pres- 50 sure is applied, in which case there is danger of accident not only on account of the falling of the jack but also on account of the springing back or whipping of the released piles. Moreover, these jacks must be excessively heavy and strong to'withstand the bending strains of possible off center misplacement as well as off center displacements that occur through shifting of the piles. The steamboat ratchets are connected by chains at the ends to spaced piles for pulling, and as it is usually necessary to place them along side of intermediate piles, these steamboat ratchets also must be extraordinarily strong and heavy so as to withstand the lateral bending strains that are imposed thereon by reason of their indirect pulling location, and because of this necessary extra weight of both the bell bottom jacks and steamboat ratchets, they are particularly cumbersome and difficult to handle and mount in place and this, together with the insecurity of the bell bottom jacks in their operative position between the piles makes the adjustment of piling a particularly difficult and hazardous procedure, especially in the elevated and dangerous locations where they are usually employed in this kind of work.

The principal objects of my invention are to provide a jack that is particularly suitable for use in connection with and greatly minimizes the difficulties and hazards of piling work; to construct the jack so that it is adapted for pushing and pulling; to insure location and retaining of the jack directly in line with the pushing and pulling. strains so as to avoid lateral strains and greatly reduce the necessary weight of the jack; to insure ease of application in the operative positions and avoid danger of displacement or accidental release of the jack; to provide a jack that is suitable not only for piling work but also for practically all other work for which jacks are ordinarily employed and which in many cases is better adapted for such other work; and in general to provide a jack that is simple and convenient and safer than jacks that have been available heretofore, these and other objects being accomplished with the structure illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which,

Fig. 1 is a side view of the jack with a portion broken away to disclose details of the construction;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a top view of the jack in working position in connection with a group of piles.

Referring to the drawing, the reference numeral 4 indicates the stem of the jack which may be of any desired length and has a ratchet wheel 5 at the center which is fixed thereon by the pin 6 or in any other desired manner and embraced between the arms 1 of the laterally extending handle member 8 which is loosely pivoted on the stem 4 and provided with a socket 9 to receive a handle Ill. A double ended pawl H is pivoted between the arms I on the pin 12 and has a lug I3 against which a plunger [4 is held by the spring 15 so as to permit reversal of the pawl II and resiliently hold said pawl in the reversed positions to permit optional rotation of the stem 4 in either direction as desired. Y

The stem 4 is reversely threaded at opposite side of the ratchet and pawl mechanism so that there is a left hand thread I6 at one end and a right hand thread I! at theother end for engagement with the threaded openings 18 of the barrels IQ of the end members 20 and 2| respectively which are alike except for the internal threads which are of opposite pitch to correspond to the respective threads IE or I! with which they are engaged. By this arrangement the end members 20 and 2| move simultaneously outward or inward according to the direction of rotation of the stem 4.

Each member 20 and 2| is formed at the outer end of the barrel I9 with a cross head portion 22 having a recessed or concave outer face 23 forming a seat suitable to receive the curved side of a pile therein when the jack is employed for pushing operations, and this outer face 23 is preferably provided with some projecting means, such as the circular V-edged rib 24 around the outer end of the opening l8, which said rib is adapted to bite into the side of the piling to assist in holding the jack in place when the jack is clamped thereagainst. This jack is also used for pulling operations and for this use, as well as for the purpose of fastening the ends of the jack onto the piles in other operations, the cross head 22 is formed at each end with a strong rearwardly extending hook 25 for connection of chains therewith.

It will be understood that this jack may be made in different lengths by varying the length of the stem 4 or the length of the barrels 19 or both, so that it may be of the proper length to be used between adjoining piles of pile structures as they are usually spaced, four such piles being shown by way of illustration at 26, 21, 28 and 29 in Fig. 3. In the pushing operation the jack is position, as shown in Fig. 3, between two adjoining piles 26 and 21 and expanded so that the cross heads 22 at the opposite ends fit against the sides of the respective piles 26 and 21 as shown in which position each head 22 is fastened to its respective pile by a chain 30 which is wrapped around the pile and engaged with the hooks 25. Only one of such chains 30 is shown in Fig. 3 which is wrapped around the pile 26 although it is to be understood that another chain 30 will ordinarily be wrapped around the pile 21 in' similar manner for the pushing operation so that the jack is fastened securely to both piles and cannot come loose and fall. Moreover as the jack is expanded, the recessed or concave faces 23 of the end members 20 and 21 fit against the curved sides of the piles and center the jack in the direct line of pressure and these recessed faces, together with the V- edged ribs which bite into the side walls of the piles, holdthe jack in place and prevent slipping, even with heavily creosoted piles, and it will be noted that even in the event of side shifting of one of the piles the seat ends of the jack together with the chains 30 will prevent displacement of the jack and will keep it at all times in the direct line of pressure between the two piles.

In the pulling operation the jack may be arranged and connected with adjoining piles 26 and 21 in the same manner as above described for pushing, or in other words with chains 30 around the piles 26 and 21 the jack may be contracted to pull the piles 26 and 21 together in which case of course, the pull is exerted through the chain hitches 36 around the piles 26 and 21. In the event a pull is to be exerted on a remote pile, as for example the pile 29, a chain 3| is looped or wrapped around the pile 29 and the ends of the chain are extended along the opposite sides of the piles 28 and 2'! and connected with the hooks 25 of the end member 22 of the jack as shown, and with the end member 2| connected with the pile 26 by the chain 30, contracting operation of the jack will exert a pull between the pile 26 and the remote pile 29. Obviously a jack might be placed between the piles 21 and 28 and another jack between the piles 26 and 21 to brace the pile 26 so that the pulling effect of the contracting jack would impart movement almost entirely to the pile 29.

With this one type of jack not only are the same operations performed which previously required an assortment of different kinds of jacks, but this jack may be used more advantageously for many other operations where a seat or projection is desirable to keep the jack from slipping, as for example in fitting the male and female ends of concrete pipe together, and in other cases where blocks are required at the ends of the jack, as for example in spreading corrugated pipe to couple the sections together, the

seat ends of this jack are advantageous as they serve to locate and hold the blocks in place.

Moreover, in piling work, there is not only greater safety due to the facilities for conveniently and securely fastening the jacks in place and due to the end formations that prevent slipping and hold the jacks in line in the pushing operations, but in both the pushing and pulling operations the present jack is maintained in the direct line of pull or push and owing to the absence of bending strains these present jacks are much lighter than the previous bell bottom jacks, steamboat ratchets and other jacks that were required for the same work and the reduction of Weight of the present jacks greatly facilitates the handling and mounting of the jacks and greatly minimizes the hazards, particularly in working in elevated positions atthe upper ends of piles.

While I have shown and described my invention in a preferred form, I am aware that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the principles of my invention, the scope of which is to be determined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A double ended jack comprising opposite work-engaging members, each of said members having a pair of oppositely extending arms projecting laterally therefrom and forming a shallow elongated, outwardly facing work-engaging seat, the arms of each member having fastener means for detachable pulling engagement with a hitch-loop beyond the seat of the respective member, and means for moving the said members towards and away from one another.

2. A double ended jack comprising a stem with reversely threaded ends, a workengaging member on each end of the stem and comprising an internally threaded barrel engaged on the respective end of the stem and having a pair of oppositely extending arms projecting laterally therefrom and forming a shallow elongated outwardly facing work engaging seat at the outer end of the barrel, the arms of each member having fastener means for detachable pulling engagement with a hitch loop beyond the seat of the respective member.

3. A double ended jack comprising a stem with reversely threaded ends, a work engaging member on each end of the stern and comprising an internally threaded barrel engaged on the respective end of the stem and having a pair of oppositely extending arms projecting laterally therefrom and forming a shallow elongated outwardly facing Work engaging seat at the outer end of the barrel, each member having fastener lugs at the rear and in the plane of the arms thereof for detachable pulling engagement with a hitch loop beyond the seat of the respective member.

4. A double ended jack comprising a stem with reversely threaded ends, a work engaging member on each end of the stem and comprising an internally threaded barrel engaged on the respective end of the stem and having a pair of oppositely extending arms projecting laterally therefrom and forming a shallow elongated outwardly facing work engaging seat at the outer end of the barrel, each member having fastener means at the rear and in the plane of the arms thereof adapted to interlock with chain links for detachable pulling connection with end portions of a chain loop beyond the seat of the respective end member.

5. A double ended jack comprising a stem with reversely threaded ends, a work engaging member on each end of the stem and comprising an internally threaded barrel engaged on the respective end of the stem and having a pair of oppositely extending arms projecting laterally therefrom and forming a shallow elongated outwardly facing work engaging seat at the outer end of the barrel, each arm having a hook at the rear of the outer end adapted to engage in a chain link.

6. A device of the class described comprising a double ended longitudinally expansible and contractible jack with a work engaging member at each end, each of said members having a pair of oppositely extending arms projecting laterally therefrom at the outer end and forming a shallow elongated outwardly facing work engaging seat, a chain loop beyond each seat and lugs at the rear of the outer ends of each pair of arms detachably interlocked with links of the respective chain.

7. A double ended jack comprising a stem provided with reversely threaded end portions, a pair of duplicate end members, each end member comprising an open ended interiorly screw-threaded barrel engaging a screwthreaded end of the stem, said barrel being provided at its outer end with a cross-head having a concave front face and provided with a substantially circular V-edged rib extending around the outer open end of the barrel, and a rearwardly extending hook on the back of the cross-head adjacent the outer end thereof, and means associated with the stem between the end members for rotating the stem within said end members.

8. A double ended jack comprising a stem provided with reversely threaded end portions, a pair of duplicate end members, each end member comprising a screw-threaded barrel engaging a screw-threaded end of the stem, said barrel being provided at its outer end with a cross-head having a concave front face and provided with means projecting from the concave face of the seat to engage in the work seated therein and prevent relative movement transverse to the cross-head and seat, and a rearwardly extending hook on the back of the crosshead adjacent the outer end thereof, and means associated with the stem between the end members for rotating the stem within said end members.

9. A double ended jack comprising a stem provided with reversely threaded end portions, a pair of duplicate end members, each end member comprising a screw-threaded barrel engaging a screw-threaded end of the stem, said barrel being provided at its outer end with a cross-head having a concave front face and provided with means located substantially midway between the ends of and projecting from the concave face of the seat to engage in the work seated therein and prevent relative movement transverse to the cross-head and seat, and a rearwardly extending hook on the back of the cross-head adjacent the outer end thereof, and means associated with the stem between the end members for rotating the stem within said end members.

FRANK H. CRAMER. 

